Boston College reported 14 new undergraduate cases of COVID-19 out of 3,174 undergraduate tests since the Tuesday update of its COVID-19 dashboard, a positivity rate of .44 percent.
Thursday’s update dropped the weekly undergraduate positivity rate to .71 percent, down from 1.34 percent on Wednesday. Thirty-two undergraduates have tested positive this past week out of 4,515 tests.
The seven-day undergraduate positivity rate dropped to .83 percent from 1.15 percent on Wednesday.
Around half of BC’s undergraduate population opted to return home for the Thanksgiving break last week and will complete the remainder of the semester remotely, according to Senior Associate Director of University Communications Ed Hayward.
Some students who remained at BC after the break were called in for a second asymptomatic surveillance test this week, according to an email UHS sent to selected students.
According to the Commonwealth’s weekly dashboard, Newton has joined Boston in the moderate-risk category for COVID-19 transmission after sitting in the low-risk category for months.
Newton reported an average of 20.2 daily cases per 100,000 residents between Nov. 15 and Nov. 28—up from 9.1 in the previous two-week period. Boston reported 31.7 daily cases per 100,000 residents during this same period, slightly below the prior two-week incidence rate of 31.5.
Massachusetts, which only officially recommends that people get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms, have come into contact with someone who tested positive, or live in a high-transmission risk community, reported a seven-day positivity rate of 5.29 percent on Thursday. Boston reported a positivity rate of 3.9 percent between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26.
There are 59 undergraduates in isolation as of Thursday, with 39 in isolation housing and 20 recovering at home. A total of 352 undergraduates have recovered so far this year.
BC has performed 122,226 total tests this year, with 435 positives. These numbers include 90,596 undergraduate tests and 411 undergraduate cases of COVID-19.
Featured Image by Madeleine Romance / Heights Editor
